Friday, June 27

This morning, we headed out to our rock in Central Park. We spent some time reflecting on the week and our experiences and took some time to write in our journals. We wrote prayers and created prayer flags to bring back home as a reminder of our experiences.






We were very fortunate to have a private guided tour at the Jewish Heritage Museum. Our tour guide, Bronia Bradman, was a survivor of Auschwitz. The first part of the tour was spent learning about the history and customs of the Jewish faith. During the second half, Bronia shared her story of capture by the Nazis and subsequent two year long imprisonment in Auschwitz concentration camp. She was 14 when she escaped from the concentration camp. She told us about her family members and shared pictures. She and her brother were the only ones who survived from her seven member family. One of the most chilling moments was when she showed us her number on her arm. We continued to talk about her story long after we left the museum. She is someone I will never forget. Her story and willingness to share with us were both amazing.


For the afternoon, we headed to Coney Island. Several of us were brave enough to ride the infamous Cyclone one (or twice). Only two of us braved Top Spin. We had dinner at Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs, where they’re gearing up for the big hot dog eating contest on the Fourth of July. We finished the evening with a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game. The Cyclones won and there were great fireworks after the game. Exhausted, we boarded the train back to the Y.

Thursday, June 26

This morning, we had our daily morning prayer in Central Park. We then hopped on the subway and headed to the Lower East Side/Bowery area to visit the Tenement Museum. This partially restored tenement building housed thousands of immigrants during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. We were able to see how these people lived and worked in their apartments.




The rain came while we were at the Tenement Museum, so we met Lyndon Harris at his church, St. John’s, and ate our brown bag lunches. Lyndon shared his stories and memories of 9/11 and the months following. He also told us about the Garden of Forgiveness. This group establishes gardens around the world that foster the nine stages of forgiveness. He shared pictures and stories from around the globe and talked about the future of the organization. Since we didn’t have an opportunity to work in the garden, Lyndon and his co-worker Carly gave us bookmarks with seeds in them. This way we can go home and start our own mini Garden of Forgiveness.

After spending time with Lyndon, we headed back to the Y. Some of us rested, swam and relaxed. Another group headed to the Met and another to MOMA.

For dinner, we headed to Shake Shack in Madison Square Park and had hamburgers, hotdogs and shakes. Afterwards we hopped on the subway and headed to South Street Seaport. We hung out and shopped around Pier 17. The NYC Waterfalls installation was turned on today, and we had a great view of the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge.



We were pretty tired, so we headed back to the Y for Compline and some sleep.

Wednesday, June 25

This morning started with morning prayer in Central Park before heading to Christ and St. Stephen’s Church. This Upper West Side church has a brown bag lunch program that feeds almost 100 people 5 days a week. We volunteered by packing the lunches, sorting out a clothing donation, passing out meal tickets and serving dessert.









After our time at Christ and St. Stephen’s, we went to Central Park to eat our lunch and to play and walk. From Central Park, we split into 2 groups. 1 group headed the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other went to the Museum on Natural History.






At the Met, there was an exhibit on the fashion of superheroes. The costumes in the exhibit included the bat suit from “the Dark Knight” and the suit from “Iron Man.” This group also toured some of the permanent installations and the Jeff Koons exhibit on the Met’s rooftop garden. This group also spent some additional time hanging out in Central Park.




The second group headed to the Museum of Natural History and started their visit with a film in the planetarium about significant collisions in space. Then we tried to find a lot of the characters from the movie “Night at the Museum,” and found that the museum in the movie was very different from the real museum. We spent a lot of time similarities between the two, such as the Easter Island “Dumb Dumb” head, the dioramas, and the whale model in the marine life exhibit.




The second group subdivided: some went back to the Y to swim and relax, and several of us headed to the Museum of Modern Art. MOMA had a great exhibit on light that was lots of fun to photograph. We also enjoyed works by Pollock and Warhol.






We had dinner at John’s Pizzeria, near Times Square. After dinner, we did some souvenir shopping and then headed back to the Y for Compline and a good night’s sleep.

Tuesday, June 24

Today we explored and learned about the services that Covenant House (www.covenanthouse.com) provides. They help children and young adults from all walks of life that are runaways or are homeless. Covenant House helps these kids to get back on their feet and to learn about real life in a safe environment. It was really amazing. Helping others and letting others learn to help themselves is their objective.

After the tour and talk, we spent time in Covenant House’s clothing closet. We helped to sort and hang clothes. Each resident is given an allowance from the clothing closet. Joyce, the manager, takes great care to make sure that the clothes are age and situation appropriate.

After a brown bag lunch in Bryant Park and a little shopping in Grand Central Station, we went on a Circle Line Cruise. It took us all around the lower part of Manhattan Island. We got to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There were also great views of downtown New York from the water. We thought it was a really cool experience because we kept forgetting that we were actually on an island.













We had a delicious dinner at a little Italian restaurant, Le Zie, in Chelsea. The owner of Le Zie supported St. Paul’s and the rescue and recovery mission by donating thousands of meals.

After dinner, we went back to the Y and enjoyed some time hanging out at the pool.

Monday, Monday

We had a little bump in the road this morning when some overnight water main work wasn’t completed in time. Without showers, just like true pilgrims, we just kept going.

For morning prayer, we headed to Central Park and found a nice big rock on a hill. People had written passages from the Bible on the rock in chalk. We worshipped together, surrounded by the green of the park and the bustling noises of the city on a Monday morning.

Our first stop of the day was back at St. Paul’s. We listened to “A Pilgrim’s Walking Tour of Ground Zero” on our iPods while walking the tour around St. Paul’s and the Ground Zero site. This audio tour, produced and moderated by Dr. Courtney Cowart, tells the stories and experiences of the people of St. Paul’s as well as others (including sanitation works, firefighters, police, and volunteers) during the rescue and recovery efforts. As we walked, it began to rain.











After the tour, we picked up lunch and went to the Trinity Church office building. In the library, we met with Martin, Tony, Courtney and Katherine. These four people played different roles at St. Paul’s after 9/11, including food operations, sanitation worker, volunteer coordinator. Through this tragedy, they all became friends. They shared their stories of the days and months after 9/11 and how their lives have changed because of that experience. They let us ask questions and were very open and honest. It was very emotional.







Following the discussion, we had a reflective art project. We had lots of different art supplies for us to express ourselves. Everyone got really quiet and worked for well over an hour. And then we shared our pieces. We were pretty surprised by what we created and how differently we expressed what we had heard and experienced.







Finally, we headed back to the YMCA for a much needed shower! Dinner was at Ivy’s Café, an Asian-themed restaurant that was a nice, easy walk from the hotel. We were all ready to go to sleep!

Sunday in NYC

This morning, we walked to worship at St. Clement’s, just outside the Theater District. A lot of actors and theater people attend this church; the altar is on a stage. The congregation was very welcoming and everyone greeted us in the Peace and invited us for coffee and doughnuts after the service. One of our holy moments was when one of the parishioner’s dogs, a tiny Yorkie named Othello, followed her to the lectern and curled up while she read the Lesson.









After visiting with the people of St. Clement’s, we headed to Virgil’s BBQ for lunch. Most of us agreed that they bbq was tasty, but that the sweet tea needed a little work.

We hopped on the subway and down to St. Paul’s to meet up with Dr. Courtney Cowart. She worked at Trinity Wall Street and was a block away in the Trinity’s offices when the World Trade Center was attacked. Courtney asked us to share our stories and memories of that day, and then she shared her story and experiences, including how she dealt with and responded to the events, and how it still influences her life today. It was a very powerful message and many of us were in tears.










But then Courtney continued on, speaking about the Millennial Generation (our pilgrim’s generation) and their altruistic natures. The challenge was put forth to carry on with kindness rather than anger.

After Courtney’s talk, we explored St. Paul’s and its graveyard. In the Chapel, there are lots of displays about what happened at St. Paul’s after 9/11, as it became a place for volunteers and workers at Ground Zero to rest, eat, pray and revive. One photo showed the walls of St. Paul’s Chapel covered in letters written by children to the rescue workers. You couldn’t see a spot of paint of the walls; they were wallpapered in these letters. There was also a display of clusters of 1000 origami cranes (a symbol of world peace) that were sent from all over the world. There were also pictures of how NYC and the world came together, banners from groups and cities all over the world, and a display of the cots where the rescue workers rested. We agreed that it was a beautiful and holy space.





There was a huge tree that used to live at the end of the cemetery, right across the street from what became Ground Zero. This tree is credited with saving St. Paul’s when the Towers fell. The tree was knocked over, but a part of the trunk was preserved and is displayed. We then took a walk to see Trinity to see the beautiful sanctuary. Outside we discovered a great sculpture, which turned out to be the roots of that great tree from St. Paul’s!



And then it started to rain. We hopped onto the subway and headed to the East Village. Dinner was at Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant. Most of our group had never eaten Indian food, but everyone was adventurous and ended up enjoying it!




On the way back to the YMCA, we walked through Union Square. We stopped to watch a big group of break dancers performing in the park. And then it was time for Compline and time to sleep!

I Hear the Train A Comin'

After a little bit of a delay (and making some new friends in the station), we were on our way.

It was an 18 hour ride, but we saw some great sights along the way, including Charlottesville, VA and Washington, DC.

 

We made our way to the Y and settled in our rooms before heading out on the town. After a great dinner at Heartland, we went to the top of the Empire State Building to take in the city. It was a great first day!